PEPSI HAS PULLED AN AD FEATURING KENDALL JENNER.
AFTER ONE DAY, THERE WAS SO MUCH CRITICISM TOWARDS THIS
PEPSI ADVERTISEMENT THAT THEY DECIDED TO PULL IT.
WHY WAS IT SO CONTROVERSIAL?
APPARENTLY IT FEATURED KENDALL JENNER AT A PROTEST THAT
LOOKED A LOT LIKE A BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST, AND IT
REALLY MINIMIZED WHAT THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT WAS,
AND IT ESSENTIALLY ENDED WITH HER GIVING A PEPSI TO A
COP, AND THEN EVERYONE IS DANCING AND HAVING A GOOD TIME.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IN PROTESTS ALL THE TIME.
ALL THE TIME, PEOPLE ARE LIKE, LET'S BUST OUT THE PEPSI
AND GIVE A SODA TO THE COPS, EVERYTHING WILL BE GREAT.
THE ADVERTISEMENT SHOWS ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE HOLDING
MILQUETOAST SIGNS WITH NON- DESCRIPTIVE PLEASE LIKE, JOIN
THE CONVERSATION.
THE PROTESTERS ARE UNIFORMLY SMILING, CLAPPING, HUGGING
AND HIGH-FIVING.
IN THE ADVERTISEMENTS CLIMACTIC SCENE, A POLICE OFFICER ACCEPTS
A ñ ACCEPTS A CAN OF PEPSI FROM JENNER, SETTING OFF A RAUCUS
APPROVAL FROM THE PROTESTERS AND AN APPRECIATIVE GRIN FROM THE
OFFICER.
SO, HERE'S WHAT DOESN'T HAPPEN AT PROTESTS.
THE WHOLE THING WAS SO AWKWARD AND STRANGE, AND YES IT
MINIMIZED BLACK LIVES MATTER, AND PROTESTS IN GENERAL.
PEOPLE ARE VERY BLEAKLY ACTIVE RIGHT NOW, THEY ARE
FRUSTRATED, THEY WANT TO AIR THEIR GRIEVANCES, AND EVEN
OTHERS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME,
THEY ARE UPSET AND FRUSTRATED AT THE CURRENT SYSTEM.
THEY ARE ACTUALLY RESISTING, AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE COPS DO
WITH THEM?
THEY DON'T SHARE A SOFT RINK WITH THEM, THEY OFTEN BEAT
THEM, SHOOT TEARGAS CANISTERS, SOMETIMES RUBBER BULLETS.
UP IN NORTH DAKOTA, THERE'S NOBODY SHARING ANYTHING
EXCEPT SIGNIFICANT VIOLENCE WITH THE PROTESTERS, AND IT WAS
THE COPS DOING IT.
IT'S LIKE, THIS IMAGE OF THIS REALITY STAR, SHE IS ONE OF THE
KARDASHIANS.
SHE IS ALSO A MODEL.
I GET IT, BUT SHE IS PART OF THE KARDASHIAN CLAN.
AND THEN HER, THIS WHITE, GORGEOUS GIRL WHO IS A
REALITY STAR, GOING UP TO THE COPS, AND THE COPS BEING
LIKE, OKAY, THEN I'M SUPER INTO IT.
WHEREAS IN REAL LIFE, LIKE THAT PICTURE THERE, WHICH IS AN
ICONIC PHOTO OF AISHA EVANS, YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
THEY DID NOT SHARE A DRINK, THEY ARRESTED HER BECAUSE SHE
WAS RESISTING.
THAT IS AN AMAZING PICTURE OF COURAGE, AND WHEN SHE WENT
UP TO THEM NOBODY WAS GRINNING, AND NOBODY GOT FIST BUMPED.
SHE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY.
SO THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT HAPPENS.
IT'S SUCH AN APPETIZER THING TO PUT A SIGN THAT SAYS JOIN
THE CONVERSATION.
NOBODY IN A PROTEST TO WHERE THEY ARE ENRAGED AT POLICE ABUSE
GOES IN AND GOES, HEY COPS, JOIN THE CONVERSATION.
YEAH, IT'S CRAZY, BUT FOR ME, HONESTLY, ONE OF THE MOST
STRANGE PARTS OF THE AD WAS LIKE, THE FIRST, IT FELT LIKE 30
SECONDS, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LONGER, IT FELT LIKE AN
ATTORNEY, WHERE THEY ARE JUST SHOWING KENDALL JENNER -LIKE,
WATCHING THE PROTESTERS, BUT SHE'S ALSO POSING IN A
MODEL-ESQUE WAY AS SHE'S WATCHING.
THE VIDEO STARTS WITH HER BEING BLIND, WHICH I DON'T GET
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF.
I'M GOING TO BE HER, BECAUSE THE VIDEO HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF.
AND IT JUST SORT OF STARTS WITH HER LIKE THIS.
SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD ACTUALLY, RIGHT NOW.
I KNOW, IT'S JUST LIKE, WHAT IS SHE DOING?
ARE YOU GOING TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION?
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN SHE'S LIKE, I DO WANT TO JOIN THE
CONVERSATION, AND HER MESSY BLONDE BOB, SHE TAKES IT OFF,
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN SHE'S A BRUNETTE AND SHE'S LIKE,
PEPSI, YEAH, LET ME GIVE YOU A PEPSI.
MAYBE THERE'S SYMBOLISM THERE I DON'T UNDERSTAND, BUT IT'S
ALL STRANGE.
THE ONLY SYMBOLISM THEY MEANT, AND THIS WAS PROMOTED BEFORE THE
CONTROVERSY, WAS THAT THEY WANTED TO COMPARE HER WITH CINDY
CRAWFORD, BECAUSE CINDY CRAWFORD WAS A DAVIS MODEL, AND BACK IN
1992 SHE DID A FAMOUS PEPSI AD, AND KENDALL JENNER TWEETED ABOUT
THAT.
I FOUND THAT TO BE APPROPRIATE SYMBOLISM, BECAUSE APPLE DOES
ñ BECAUSE ADVERTISERS ARE STUCK IN 1992.
THEY STILL THINK, PEOPLE LOVE MODELS.
OH, BLACK PEOPLE AND ALL THE PEOPLE PROTESTING TRUMP,
THEY ARE GOING TO LOVE KENDALL JENNER, THEY ARE GOING TO THINK
SHE'S THE NEW MODEL AND THEY ARE GOING TO WANT TO DRINK PEPSI.
YOU ARE STUCK IN 1952, IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY.
THIS SCREAMS OFF ñ
THIS SCREEN IS INAUTHENTIC, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY CAN'T GET PAST.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT, I WANT TO DO A LIKE DEFENSE OF IT.
MY DEFENSE OF IT IS, AT LEAST THEY ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN THE COUNTRY, AND THAT THERE IS RESISTANCE, AND IN
ORDER TO TRY AND SELL PRODUCTS TO MILLENNIAL'S, TO THE YOUNGER
GENERATION, WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS, IT WAS A BAD ATTEMPT, BUT IT
WAS AT LEAST AN ATTEMPT TO REACH MILLENNIALS IN A LANGUAGE THAT
THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD UNDERSTAND, WHICH IS, WE KNOW
YOU ARE PISSED AT THE GOVERNMENT AND AT THE ESTABLISHMENT,
WE KNOW YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF PROTESTS AND RESISTANCE, ETC.,
AND THEY WERE TRYING TO REACH OUT TO THEM.
AND THE AD WAS VERY MULTIRACIAL, SO I LIKE HOW INCLUSIVE IT WAS.
WAS DONE IN A SUPER HAM-HANDED WAY, BECAUSE THEY CAN'T
HELP THEMSELVES, BECAUSE ALMOST ALL ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES
GOT FROZEN IN TIME IN 1955.
SO THEY TRIED TO GO IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT THEY TRIED
TO DO IT IN A SAFE WAY.
JUST JOIN THE CONVERSATION.
DON'T WANT TO OFFEND ANYONE.
BUT HAVING SAID THAT, IT IS A SIGN OF THE TIMES THAT THEY AT
LEAST TRIED THIS AD.
THEY TRIED IT, BUT I THINK THIS IS GOING TO HAVE UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES FOR INNOCENT BYSTANDERS, AND WHAT I MEAN BY
THAT IS, ADVERTISERS ARE SO AFRAID OF ANYTHING POLITICAL,
AND IN THIS CASE THEY TRIED SOMETHING, AND IT CAME BACK AND
BIT THEM IN THE ASS.
THAT'S WHAT I'M KIND OF CONCERNED ABOUT.
I THINK THERE IS A RIGHT WAY TO ENGAGE AUDIENCES WITH POLITICAL
CONTENT, OR POLITICAL PROGRAMMING, AND NOT OFFEND
PEOPLE OR GET UNDER PEOPLE'S SKIN.
THAT'S A FAIR POINT, BUT I WILL SAY THIS, I THINK THAT
EVENTUALLY THEY ARE FINALLY GOING TO SNAP OUT OF IT.
I LOOK AT IT FROM AN OPTIMISTIC LENS, THAT THEY ARE GOING
TO REALIZE, IT'S NOT 1955,
WE CAN'T KEEP DOING MILQUETOAST AND THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET
100% OF THE COUNTRY, IT JUST DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY ANYMORE.
AND WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO IS THEY ARE GOING TO GO IN A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION, WHERE THEY ARE BOLD AND
THEY TAKE CHANCES, AND THEY EXCITE PEOPLE.
FOR EXAMPLE, VICKS DID AN AD IN INDIA, WHICH WAS SO POWERFUL,
THEY WERE TELLING A STORY ABOUT A MOM WHO TURNED OUT TO BE
TRANSGENDER, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW POWERFUL IT IS?
THAT'S A CORPORATION TAKING A BIG CHANCE IN A MARKET LIKE
INDIA.
AND THAT PEOPLE GO, I LIKE THAT, NOW I'D LIKE VICKS -
VIDEO BUFFERING ñ
AND NOT HAVE POSTERS THAT THEY JOIN THE CONVERSATION, AND
THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO TALK TO PEOPLE ON THE GROUND WHO
ACTUALLY ARE PART OF THIS, BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A
CHOICE.
BECAUSE WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT, MILLENNIALS ARE THIS
PROGRESSIVE, THIS IS WHO MILLENNIALS ARE.
I GOT A MESSAGE FOR YOU, THE RIGHT WAY TO REACH THEM IS TO DO
IT IN AN AUTHENTIC WAY, NOT A SAFE, BS, INAUTHENTIC WAY.